Educators’ Career Ladder may be in
jeopardy
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
sent school administrators notice July 23 that the Career
Ladder program may be at risk of becoming yet another educational
program cut when legislators return for the 2010 session.
The program provides educators extra pay for extra work and
serves as a means for them to improve their salaries, already
well below the national average.
DESE received notice in June from the Rep. Allen Icet, House
Budget Committee chairman, and Sen. Gary Nodler, Senate Appropriations
Committee chairman, that the General Assembly cannot assure
that participants in the Career Ladder Program for the 2009-2010
school year and beyond will be supported by state appropriation.
“This news and the uncertainty implied in the announcement
will certainly shake up school districts as educators, already
receiving less pay than other professionals, receive a jolt
in their plans to work more to earn a boost in pay in a depressed
economy,” says Missouri NEA President Chris Guinther,
a teacher on leave from the Francis Howell School District.
“Any cuts in this program should be phased in over time
to minimize the impact on individual districts and teachers.
Losses to this program’s funding will result in lost
compensation to teachers through both salary incentives and
retirement. And teachers who have made decisions affecting
their work this summer and fall may not be rewarded for the
work they are doing to earn another rung on the career ladder.”
The 35,000-member MNEA represents teachers, education
support professionals, college faculty, retired teachers and
students studying to be teachers in school districts and on
college campuses throughout the state. It is the Missouri
affiliate of the 3.2 million-member NEA.
For further information:
Chris Guinther
(573) 634-3202
August 3, 2009
More information:
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